Tech Talk at ShieldsGroup

The last time Verizon updated my Android, the Mobile Data Widget stopped functioning.

JuiceDefender tech support told people to remove the JuiceDefender.backup file in the download folder on the SD card, and then to install the latest beta of JuiceDefender. What I was doing was uninstalling JuiceDefender first, and then when I looked for the backup, it was nowhere to be found. Still – they were right. The culprit was the JuiceDefender.backup file. I just couldn’t delete it because the uninstall deletes it for you.

What I didn’t think of was that Google holds the file in the cloud. When I reinstalled any version of JuiceDefender, the corrupted backup was restored to the folder and the problem persisted.

The solution was simple.

1. I reinstalled the beta and did not run the app. The reinstall pulled the backup file from the cloud to my SD card.
2. I navigated to the download folder on my SD card (Sure enough, it was over a week old — about as old as this problem) and deleted the JuiceDefender.backup file. This action evidently deleted it from the cloud.
3. I uninstalled JuiceDefender and rebooted (power down and back up) the phone.
4. I reinstalled JuiceDefender.

I can now turn data off and on via the JuiceDefender “Toggle mobile data” widget.

I love Google’s “Instant Upload,” but suddenly it stopped working last month

After poking around the web, I found a suggestion that you login to Picasa and then it will work.  Yeah, right — how can that fix it?

I don’t know, but it did.

I fixed Google+ Instant Upload simply by logging into Picasa on my desktop.

Recently, I noted that some apps on my Android were requiring updates a lot. At first I thought, “Wow — these developers are busy. But then I noted that the size of the update was the same each time. Exactly the same.

So I poked around and did some experimenting and found the solution.

1. Let the download complete.
2. From the Home Screen, select Menu / Settings / Applications/ Manage Applications /All
3. Select the “Download Manager”
4. Select “Clear data”

This solved my problem of some applications needing to update every day or every restart.